Problem Solution Essay on Reproductive Health

Introduction

Reproductive health is one of the most significant areas of healthcare. Many clinics in America provide reproductive health services to women and men. One of the widely known clinics is those belonging to Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) is a non-profit organization in America, which provides services regarding reproductive health care and sex education to people globally. The organization has a running website where they offer a choice for people to get professional help regarding birth control, abortion, sexually transmitted diseases, and cervical cancer. Planned Parenthood has been in existence for over 100 years. The organization's health centers provide a myriad of safe reliable and preventive healthcare to men, women, and the young population. It advocates for reason American foreign policies, which would work towards improving the sexual and reproductive health and wellbeing of individuals within America and globally. The U.S. foreign government always provides funding for the nonprofit organization. However, today, the controversy revolves around whether the government should continue to fund Planned Parenthood. The bill set in 2015 and another in 2019 by Congress to defund Planned Parenthood is an example of the controversy that surrounds the issue. The Bills to defund Planned Parenthood are likely to undermine the reproductive healthcare sector. Some groups believe that funding the organization on abortion services is morally wrong because it goes against their religious views. According to critics, some of the services such as abortion go against the decency of society. The Hyde Amendment has prohibited the use of federal funds for abortion services unless it involves rape, incest, or if the pregnant woman's life is in danger due to the pregnancy. Proponents of planned parenthood, on the other hand, advocate for funding to Planned Parenthood because of its immense benefits of provision of healthcare services to millions of individuals globally. The purpose of this essay is to provide an argumentative proposal on the reason planned parenthood should stay funded by the government. The federal government should continue to fund Planned Parenthood because it will improve the reproductive health of many women in America.

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Problem Statement

Access to reproductive health is poor in many countries across the world. The provision of specific reproductive health services by clinics would help to meet the needs of various women globally. Planned Parenthood is a non-profit organization with various clinics across America, which provides reproductive health services for many women. For over 100 years, Planned Parenthood has provided healthcare services such as breast and cervical cancer screening, STI testing, contraceptives, and abortion amenities to millions of women worldwide (Planned Parenthood, n.d).

Over the years, several policies have been raised that are likely to undermine the provision of reproductive health care. In the Planned Parenthood website, the issues which the non-profit organization face include abortion access, birth control provision, and health care equality (Planned Parenthood, n.d). According to the organization, a majority of women have unplanned pregnancies and for that reason, it is their right to have safe and legal abortion services (Planned Parenthood, n.d). Besides, regarding birth control, women should have the right to have a myriad of birth control methods that suit their bodies (Planned Parenthood, n.d). Concerning health care equality, everyone should have access to reproductive health care (Planned Parenthood, n.d).

Through their years of provision of reproductive healthcare services, Planned Parenthood has had a myriad of controversies. The first issue to be raised was on October 16th, 1916 with Margret Sanger (Planned Parenthood | 100 Years Strong, n.d). Sanger and her sister opened various birth control clinics, which was raided by police after nine days since its opening (Planned Parenthood | 100 Years Strong, n.d). The action did not deter Sanger and her sister as they opened more clinics and many people joined the movement to provide a variety of birth control services to women. In 1965, the U.S Supreme Court sanctioned birth control making the well-being lives of many women in danger because of the lack of available safe and legal abortion services (Planned Parenthood | 100 Years Strong, n.d). In 1967, Reverend Howard R. Moody and 19 ministers established a network of 1400 clergy members to help women seek abortion services (Planned Parenthood | 100 Years Strong, n.d). In 1973, the Supreme Court legalized abortion (Planned Parenthood | 100 Years Strong, n.d). Since then, the legalization has been an issue with Planned Parenthood at the center of the controversy. The problem surrounding the funding of planned parenthood by the government revolves around ethics.

Furthermore, over several decades, the Hyde Amendment has prohibited the government from funding abortion services unless the pregnancy occurred because of rape, incest, or if the woman's life is in danger (Silver & Kapidia, 2017). Opponents of funding Planned Parenthood have always referenced their views based on the Hyde Amendment and their religious views on abortion. The opponents attack Planned Parenthood to restrict the provision of abortion services.

Anti-abortion policymakers and some members of Congress have pursued a political agenda to deny public funding to Planned Parenthood. The efforts by Congress and policymakers seek to exclude Planned Parenthood health centers from federal funding courses such as Medicaid and Title X national family planning program (Silver & Kapidia, 2017). Those efforts, however, raise a serious public problem. For instance, it has to be understood that Planned Parenthood plays a vital role in ensuring that millions of people from America and globally receive affordable healthcare services. The Obama administration and federal courts have stopped agendas to defund Planned Parenthood. However, over the past two years, the Republican government and the 115 Congress have restarted the agenda to stop funding for Planned Parenthood. The Defund Planned Parenthood Bill of 2015 focuses on abortion as a problem on why the government should stop funding Planned Parenthood (Congress.Gov, 2015). The Bill prohibits funding for cases of abortion and does not apply in cases of rape, incest, or on occasions where the pregnant woman's life is at risk (Congress.Gov, 2015). The Bill was introduced in the house in 2015 (Congress.Gov, 2015). Besides, the Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2019 prohibits the disbursement of funds to assist in abortion services for a one year (GovTrack, 2019). The restriction, however, does not include cases of rape, incest, or conditions where the life of the pregnant woman is at risk.

Approval of the Bill will deprive millions of women healthcare services regarding contraceptives, STD testing and treatment, counseling amenities as well as breast and cervical cancer screening and treatment (Silver & Kapidia, 2017). Opponents of funding Planned Parenthood have argued that tax money is used to fund several abortions in Planned Parenthood, which is morally wrong. As the critics argue, funding Planned Parenthood means that the government is indirectly supporting abortion. One of the critics of Planned Parenthood, who has been vocal on his views is the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Service, Tom Price. Opponents of funding Planned Parenthood are seeking to destroy the network that has provided healthcare services to millions of people for a century.

Proposed Solution

The proposed solution is for the government to continue funding Planned Parenthood. The proposal argues that depriving funds for services such as abortion is also likely to affect other healthcare services, which Planned Parenthood provides to millions of men, women, and young people. The proposal will justify the proposed solution and how it will solve the problem of reproductive healthcare inequality. Additionally, the proposal will examine the views of opponents on their reasons to defund Planned Parenthood. Afterward, a justification of the proposed solution, which stands up to the objections provided by Congress and Tom Price will be provided.

Justification of the Proposed Solution

The government should continue to fund Planned Parenthood because of its immense benefits of reproductive healthcare provision to millions of people. Restriction to care would mean that the government is being inhuman to its citizens. The proposed solution solves the problem. According to Black, Laxminarayan, Temmerman, and Walker (2016), reproductive health is a major public health issue. The authors indicated that interventions to improve reproductive health are needed to improve the public health sector (Black et al., 2016). One of the interventions mentioned by the authors is funding (Black et al., 2016).

The proposed solution to fund Planned Parenthood is feasible in various ways. Kliff (2016) asserted that Planned Parenthood gets over $500 million in public funds yearly. Undoubtedly, the money given to Planned Parenthood is spent on the rights cause, which is to improve the reproductive health outcomes of many women. Funding Planned Parenthood helps to solve many problems, which the government may not know about. Defunding Planned Parenthood on abortion services will mean that other services of reproductive health will be affected. According to Black et al. (2016), the reproductive service, family planning, is cost-effective. According to a report by the United Nations, for every $1 million spent on family planning, $2-$6 million can be saved from other health services such as immunizations, health care, sanitation, and education (Black et al., 2016).

The proposed solution to fund Planned Parenthood is key to improving reproductive health. The reason is that when Planned Parenthood receives funds for reproductive healthcare for women, then the quality of life and well-being of women is guaranteed. When the government defunds Planned Parenthood, then it will mean that millions of people will be painfully sick and this will bring a nationwide healthcare burden. Among the many clinics, which offer reproductive services, Planned Parenthood has always been the leading healthcare provider for reproductive health services (Silver & Kapadia, 2017). Defunding Planned Parenthood will mean that under-resourced community health clinics and other providers in other counties will have to step up and provide reproductive health services to women (Silver & Kapadia, 2017). Reproductive health is primary care, and if the primary care is undermined, then there will be a health care travesty to communities across America.

The Justification That the Proposed Solution Stands up to Objections

The secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Tom, Price, has always been outspoken on anti-abortion and Planned Parenthood. According to Kenny (2017), Price indicated that Planned Parenthood spends millions of tax dollars to perform abortion services. Price referenced the Hyde Amendment, by stating that the government will need to cut funding from Planned Parenthood on abortion and other services that it offers (Kenny, 2017). Price's argument might have merit considering the Hyde Amendment. However, the issue remains that cutting funds to Planned Parenthood on its services will cause a huge healthcare burden because community clinics will be overburdened with providing primary care. Besides, statistics from Planned Parenthood indicated that it has abortion-related incidents were only 3% of the other services it provides (Kurtzleben, 2015). 3% is a small percentage to w...